Immersive sim
In short An immersive sim is a game whose world runs on consistent, interacting systems, so that players can solve problems in their own way.
Definition
An immersive sim is a game in which the world runs on consistent, interacting systems, so the player can solve problems in ways the designers did not script one by one. A locked door can be picked, broken, bypassed or ignored; guards respond to noise and light; fire, water and electricity behave the same everywhere. The player usually sees through a character's eyes and has several routes, such as combat, stealth, conversation or hacking, to each goal. The term grew out of the Looking Glass and Ion Storm games of the 1990s and 2000s. What defines it is not the camera or the setting but the promise that a plausible idea will work because the systems allow it.
Not to be confused with
- Perspective
Most immersive sims are first-person, but a first-person view alone does not make one; the defining trait is a world of consistent systems.
- Sandbox
A sandbox leaves the purpose up to the player, while an immersive sim usually sets clear goals and leaves only the method open.
- Simulation game
A simulation game models a real activity or system as its subject, while an immersive sim uses simulated systems as a means of letting the player improvise inside a fiction.
- Player agency
Player agency is the general capacity to act meaningfully in a game, which immersive sims emphasize but which many other kinds of game also offer.
Where the game lives
- rules: used
- goals: used
- feedback: used
- uncertainty: used
- choice: used
- play: used
Immersive sims keep all six structures, but they move the weight toward choice and play inside fixed goals. Consistent rules and clear feedback are what make improvised solutions possible.
used dropped · What the six structures are
Examples
System ShockLooking Glass Technologies, 1994
A space station of interlocking systems explored in first-person, an early model for the form.
Deus ExIon Storm, 2000
Gives most objectives several valid approaches, from combat to stealth, hacking and conversation.
PreyArkane Studios, 2017
Lets players combine tools and powers, such as turning into a coffee cup to slip through a gap, to reach places by unplanned routes.
Where the field disagrees
The name is usually traced to Warren Spector, though Spector has credited his Looking Glass colleague Doug Church with first using it, and the term was mostly applied to these games after the fact. Critics also disagree on whether it names a genre or a design philosophy that can appear in many genres. Second Playthrough treats it as a genre defined by systemic consistency and open methods, not by a first-person perspective or a studio lineage.
In the essays
No essay takes this term on directly yet. Its neighbors in the guide are linked above; the newsletter announces new essays.
Sources
- ArticlePostmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex. Game Developer, 2000. The lead designer's account of making Deus Ex, often cited as an early written use of the phrase.
- TalkClassic Game Postmortem: Deus Ex. Game Developers Conference, 2017.